'Tis the Season

I’m not talking about Thanksgiving, which is known by its other name in the UK: “We Finally Got Rid of Those Troublemakers Day.” I am talking about Charitable Giving Season. So, I am going to take a moment (or maybe longer) to explain why you might want to consider our organization in your seasonal giving.

The White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue is a non-profit (501c3) organization that Tom and I founded in 2003. Before then, we had been involved in the rescue of companion animals, serving as rescue transporters. Just before Christmas 2002, a plea for help came across one of the Internet rescue lists we monitored. A family in southwest VA had lost their farm, and their two horses were without a place to go. The mare and gelding had been bred by this family and owned for 23 and 24 years, so this was devastating to them. After a discussion with the owner, we decided that we could take them in. So, the owners drove for four hours to deliver the pair to us the day after Christmas. The family was in tears over having to part with them, but some of those tears were tears of relief. PJ and Heather are shown in the photo above, which also includes our friend Cody Perry.

Up to that point, Tom and I had been fairly oblivious to the problems faced by horses and their owners in this country. Unlike those for companion animals, emergency shelters for horses are few and far between. That’s because horses take space, money, a lot of work and a specialized knowledge of equine behavior and disorders. You can’t just drive them to the SPCA and drop them off (not that we encourage that). So those without a place to go are often neglected by their owners in their own back yards, or worse, passed along until they end up in the hands of kill buyers, who then sell them to slaughterhouses. The White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue was created to provide emergency shelter for horses in urgent need, to provide medical, dental and hoof care, and to find them loving homes or permanent sanctuary. We decided to specialize in Appaloosas because we know and love them and because we felt that it was efficient to have a single point of contact between those needing to surrender these horses and the people looking for them. We have taken in many breeds, though, because our real priority is the need of the horse.

This year, like many charities, we are bracing for the fallout from the weak economy. We are receiving many calls from people who have lost their jobs or farms and cannot afford to keep their horses. At the same time, people worried about their finances have been more reluctant to donate money to charitable causes, so donations for the coming year will be less, while operating costs have continued to rise. For us, these are primarily feed, bedding and veterinary care. This rescue would never have managed to accomplish what it has without the support of many people. This past year, we were granted permanent non-profit status by the IRS, which was quite an accomplishment that we owe to many, many individuals. I am asking now for our friends who read this blog or have visited our rescue and met our horses to consider making a tax deductible contribution to help us continue rescuing urgent need horses through these difficult times.

It doesn’t need to be a lot to make a difference. For example:

$13.00 buys one bag of feed.
$15 will medicate a Cushing’s horse for a month
$20 will provide one hoof trim (this needs to be done every 6 weeks)

And its easy to do. Donations can be mailed to:

White Bird Appaloosa Horse Rescue
1688 Burkes Tavern Road, Burkeville, VA 2322

or Sent via Paypal to: wingsofangels57@yahoo.com
A convenient “donate” button is located on our web site at: www.whitebirdapps.com for this purpose.

White Bird is an approved member of the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, so state employees can designate donations through their paychecks, tax free. We are Charity #3388.

White Bird is also an approved charity of the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capitol Area, and the Combined Federal Campaign, Central Region, so federal employees in these areas can donate the same way.

There are so many horses who need our help. But while you are munching on your holiday goodies, you’ll know that a horse in need has a dry stall and a full belly and that you’ve helped to make that possible. On behalf of our horses, we thank you for your kindness and support over the past five years.

Tom and Jorg

(Photo by Tom. When the horses arrived, we discovered that PJ, in addition to partial blindness and arthritis, also had a large squamous cell cancer that needed surgery. This photo was taken at the Middleburg Equine Hospital, where the wonderful Dr. Adams surgically removed it. Heather was there to keep him company).